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Three Dead, Dozens Injured as Tornado Hits Small Texas Town; Judge Issues First Order in Trump Classified Documents Case; Wall Street Journal Reports, DOJ to Probe Proposed PGA Tour-LIV Golf Deal. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 16, 2023 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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NIKOLA JOKIC, DENVER NUGGETS CENTER: Our whole lives.

[07:00:01]

And then we see you guys that came out of the streets, and, actually, this one is for you. We love you, Denver. This one is for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, definitely don't want to miss that moment. The Nuggets will get their championship rings in October.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Love that.

CNN This Morning continues right now.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A devastating tornado ripping through Northern Texas. Damage in the panhandle is extensive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem was this time the storm developed very rapidly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Head injuries, collapsed lungs, broken legs, major lacerations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our community could use all of the prayers that could be sent to us right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A judge some feared might slow walk the Trump case kick-starts it instead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It comes just two days after the arraignment, and she's setting a pretty tight timeline.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: This will be the case of a lifetime. It will be hard to find people who don't have an opinion.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: A federal grand jury has indicted that Air National Guardsman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bringing this case to trial could be embarrassing to the Department of Defense.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The Justice Department has informed the PGA Tour it is going to investigate the surprise merger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A DOJ investigation could stop the merger and say this is going to violate antitrust laws.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take the competitor off the board, exist as a partner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think this will end anytime soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're called grandfluencers pulling in huge brand deals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to highlight it's okay to get older. I'm not afraid to be myself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think young people are craving authenticity and that's what I try to encourage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is being older actually an asset on social media?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Totally, not only on social media but in life itself.

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HARLOW: Good morning, everyone. I cannot wait for that. Older people taking full advantage of Instagram, that is something to highlight ahead, but we do begin with very tragic news from overnight.

HILL: That's right. We've been following very closely what's left after this devastating tornado made its way through Perryton, Texas.

HARLOW: You see that massive cloud there. Well, folks in the area telling CNN they had little warning before the tornado began ripping through the town of about 8,000 overnight.

Here is what we know at this hour. Three people have been confirmed dead, as many as 100 more injured, and those injuries range from cuts and bruises to far more severe injuries, even a head injury. The tornado left about 200 homes destroyed, as you can see from this picture here. Some buildings just absolutely leveled, downed communications towers. One man saying he is simply thankful he and his family are alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VICTOR MUNOZ, PERRYTON TORNADO SURVIVOR: I'm just happy my brothers are alive. I mean, I know all the property and everything, accessories can be replaced but a life can never be replaced. And just being in the tornado thinking about it, like my brother worrying, crying, it would have killed me, hurt me inside. I don't know what I would have done.

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HARLOW: This is just one of several reported tornadoes across the country. Look at dash cam video here from Toledo, Ohio. You can see strong winds sending debris everywhere as drivers waited for the storm to pass. Right now, nearly 400,000 customers in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama are without power.

Let's get to our colleague, Lucy Kafanov, she is live this morning in Perryton, Texas, with more. The sun is up. You can see the devastation. What is the human toll?

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reporter: the human toll is still, unfortunately, being counted. As daylight breaks, you can see more of the scale of the destruction here in Perryton. Homes were completely flattened, structures, like the one you see behind me, turned to rubble. At least three people lost their lives, dozens injured, hundreds now left without their homes.

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KAFANOV (voice over): A deadly tornado touching down in the Texas panhandle leaving a brutal path of destruction in Perryton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado is just 100 yards or so right there.

KAFANOV: Large hail pelted down as the tornado moved through the area, and soon after, a possible second smaller tornado was seen as well. One storm chaser says there was very little warning ahead of this tornado as the funnel cloud formed very quickly.

BRIAN EMFINGER, STORM CHASER: Whenever I was flying around, it looked like people were just having to self-rescue themselves. People were climbing out of rubble. There was a fire nearby.

KAFANOV: As many as 200 homes were destroyed, according to the town's fire chief, and some of those homes were completely leveled as seen in this aerial video shot in the tornado's aftermath.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This whole area is just wiped out.

KAFANOV: One nearby resident drove through Perryton in the tornado's wake and documented the damages.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's tanks, oil field tanks. That right there is a trailer, an oil field trailer. KAFANOV: Texas Governor Greg Abbott deploying the state's emergency response resources. The surrounding cities and counties also rushed to the area to provide aid. In neighboring Hansford County, the county judge says they are preparing to assist for a possible mass casualty and/or recovery event. The Red Cross is mobilizing teams to offer support on the ground. The local high school is opening its doors to offer shelter to those in need.

COLE UNDERWOOD, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AND FOOTBALL COACH, PERRYTON HIGH SCHOOL: I think that there's a sense of fear just of the unknown. I don't think anybody has any idea what's going to happen next. The shock is still setting in. The sadness, the anger, every emotion that people can be going through they're going through.

KAFANOV: The interim county hospital's CEO says it's operating off generators which can only last a little over 72 hours. She says the hospital has treated somewhere between 75 and 100 people with injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything from minor lacerations to major traumas, head injuries, collapsed lungs, broken legs, major lacerations, a little bit of everything.

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KAFANOV (on camera): And people here are still coming to grips with what happened. It happened so quickly. There was really no time to get to a shelter even though there is a shelter just a block and a half from here. Folks who live in the buildings behind me said they didn't have time to get away. And this is just the beginning of the difficult battle they have ahead of them. The power is still out, food, water, just about everything you can think of folks here need right now.

HARLOW: Lucy, we're glad you're on the ground bringing your stories, but it is tragic. Thank you for that.

HILL: There's new reporting this morning in the federal case against Donald Trump. His attorneys have contacted the Justice Department of getting necessary security clearances in this classified documents case. That's according to a source familiar with the matter. And it also underscores the sensitive nature of the documents the former president is accused of withholding.

This is part of Judge Aileen Cannon's first order here since, of course, the president -- the former president had that not guilty plea entered earlier this week, not guilty to charges of mishandling classified information and to obstruction of justice.

So, by June 20th, Judge Cannon said she wants the lawyers to file notice they have complied with her instructions. We are still waiting to learn whether the trial will take place before or after, of course, the 2024 election.

But, look, there is a busy calendar already here for Donald Trump, as you can see a lot going on there. HARLOW: Let's bring in our experts in all of this, former Prosecutor Jeremy Saland, TIME's Senior Correspondent and host of TIME's Person of the Week Podcast Charlotte Alter and New York Times National Political Correspondent Shane Goldmacher. Good morning, guys. Thanks so much for being here.

Shane, let me start with you. You say, look, Florida courts tend to move fast. Is this a sign of that? Is it also a sign of what's to come if this whole thing goes fast?

SHANE GOLDMACHER, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I mean, it's potentially a sign of that. Look, this could be a slow process. Getting security clearances takes time. And, by the way, Trump doesn't even have a full legal team yet, right? He just parted ways with two of his top lawyers. So, he has to bring in new lawyers, pick his lawyers and then they have to get security clearances. But the special counsel said he wants to have a speedy process here and there's a real big deadline, which is the 2024 election. Can you do this before that election? Because if you wait until after, there's a whole new Pandora's Box of possibilities.

HARLOW: Jeremy, what's your sense? Can this trial happen before the election?

JEREMY SALAND, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Can is a relative term. Certainly, yes, it can.

HILL: It's possible.

SALAND: But with the security clearance, this is not going to be measured in days or weeks. It will be measured on a much longer time than that because the process is not just an attorney filling out a form and saying where have you live, where have you gone to school, debt, arrests, things like that. Once they're investigated, there are further steps that take it beyond that. So, it takes time.

HILL: And is there a way to safely fast track that process if needed?

SALAND: You can relatively speaking prioritize, that a judge, a district judge can say, this should sort of jump to the top and move things along. The investigative process itself still takes time. You have to be thorough. These are documents that are really relevant to the United States'' defense and security.

HARLOW: Yes, that's for sure. Also, the deference is given to the defendant's team to say, we have enough time, we're ready, et cetera, et cetera, even if the special counsel wants to move fast, it's not totally up to Jack Smith. What's your take?

CHARLOTTE ALTER, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, TIME: I think the schedule here is getting tricky for Donald Trump. I mean, Georgia prosecutors are set to announce whether they're going to charge him for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election in late summer.

[07:10:04] That's right around the time of the RNC debate. His Stormy Daniels- related trial is set for March of 2024. That's after Super Tuesday. There's a lot of tricky timing to balance here with his legal schedule and his political schedule. And so this not the only trial that he's facing, so there's going to be a lot of balancing here.

HILL: Shane, you were in Bedminster on Tuesday night when the President was making his speech, doing some fundraising in reaction to what had happened, of course, in Florida earlier in the day. I was struck by your assessment of Donald Trump that night. Just walk us through what you saw at that event and what was different about his demeanor.

GOLDMACHER: Well, the pre event was fascinating, too, right? We were all there for many hours before it began, and the attendees started coming in, and people were wearing these sort of almost like wedding attire, bright colored dresses. There were the high tops that they would use for a wedding at this golf club. And there was almost a celebratory atmosphere of, like this is a big moment for Trump and we're here to watch it.

And then he arrived and people were excited, right? They're craning their phones to get a picture of the motorcade. And when he spoke, he really didn't come with the sort of excited energy that he often has. He sounded and looked tired and deflated by the process, right? This is a person who spent decades trying to avoid being indicted for crimes. He negotiated with regulators, he negotiated with investigators.

And so here he is, not just being accused of crimes once, but twice this year, and now this is a federal crime. So, there's a political issue. And, yes, this is not hurting him in the Republican primary but it doesn't mean it's something that he was looking forward to, even if some of his political advisors see some upside for him in the short- term.

HILL: Right. As he said, no one wants to be indicted, right? So, Yes, I mean, I certainly don't. So, I can -- I think he's right. Most people --

HARLOW: She's perfect. You are. There's something bigger here than whatever happens to Trump. It's what happens to the institutions in our country, particularly given not just his attacks, but a growing number of Republican attacks, presidential candidate attacks on the independence of the Justice Department.

This is something Ron DeSantis went at hard in his first interview when he announced. But I thought it was interesting, Shane, what John Thune said about this. Let's listen.

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SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Obviously, we need accountability and we need oversight, which is the job that we have to make sure they're doing their job the right way. But are we going to get rid of the Justice Department? No. And I think defunding, it's a really bad idea. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Increasingly on an island in his party or no?

GODLMACHER: He's in the leadership of his party in the Congress, but he is not in the sort of mainstream of where Republican primary voters seem to be based on the comments of so many of other Trump's rivals. It's not just Trump. It's not just Ron DeSantis. A whole slew of them have talked about weaponization. They've talked about ending the Justice Department as they see it, replacing the FBI director. This is the new mainstream of the Republican Party, even if Thune is one of the top contenders on Capitol Hill.

HARLOW: I was just looking above the fold, top piece by your colleagues in The Times today, sort of bigger picture. We need to think about this, yes, what it means.

HILL: And what does it mean, bigger picture? Because when you have, right, an effort as well to delegitimize some of these institutions and to call into question whatever charges may be filed and to immediately label something as being political because maybe it's going after someone who you support politically, how do you fight back against that?

SALAND: It's interesting. The anti-weaponizers, if that's the proper term, are trying to weaponize what they're saying is being weaponized. It's really ironic. It's pathetic, actually. And it really, I think, does a grave injustice to people in the United States, to anybody who cares about law and order just as well even if you believe that Donald Trump did nothing wrong with in terms of his the subpoenas. His response or lack of response and avoiding the process and ignoring that legal process, that is what he did wrong. Even if you think nothing was -- it wasn't confidential, it was all acceptable to have those materials, he just ignored that process. That's not okay.

HARLOW: It was interesting to hear yesterday morning, Francis Suarez, mayor of Miami, who's just jumped into this race, who I should note is a lawyer himself, a practicing lawyer, went after this indictment in his interview with George Stephanopoulos. Didn't name exactly what he took issue with, but he called it political. It just seems to be like that is the line you have to toe to run in this Republican primary.

ALTER: Yes. I thought that the Suarez announcement was interesting because he definitely is toeing that line. But it's also interesting to look at his speech last night, which seemed to be trying to almost also step away from that line as well. I mean, he was trying to position himself as this next generation leader, a young mayor who's sort of like outside of the political and cultural and social national trends and can really focus on getting people jobs and making our cities work.

[07:15:00]

It reminded me a little bit almost of the way Pete Buttigieg tried to position himself in the 2020 campaign. So, it was interesting to watch him kind of toe the line between what Republican primary voters expect from their candidates and the message he's trying to send about turning a page for the GOP.

HILL: It would be interesting to see all that messaging and that balancing act, too, moving forward. Shane, Charlotte, Jeremy, great to have all you with us.

HARLOW: Thank you.

Just ahead here, the PGA Tour under fire for that surprise partnership with Saudi-funded LIV Golf. Now, a new report says the Justice Department is launching an investigation. So, what could this mean for that deal moving forward? We're going to dig in.

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HARLOW: Quite a development in the surprising partnership between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is backing LIV Golf. The Wall Street Journal this morning reporting the Justice Department will investigate this proposed merger. There are antitrust concerns there, the Journal says. This deal was announced last week. It would unite the commercial businesses of the PGA Tour, Europe-based D.P. World Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf under a new and still unnamed for-profit company.

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In a statement Thursday to CNN, the PGA Tour said, quote we're confident that once all stakeholders learn more about how the PGA Tour will lead this new venture, they will understand how it benefits our players, our fans, and sport while protecting the American golf institution.

Joining us now to talk about all of this is Christine Brennan. I'm totally fascinated by this for many, many reasons. Not only the fact that this proposed merger is even happening, but with DOJ sniffing around, does this thing even get done?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: That's a great question. I mean, at this point, the idea that this was a done deal, which everyone thought a week ago, I think that it's very much up in the air. It certainly ensures that there will be chaos in men's golf for the next year at least. That's what experts are telling me. And that's exactly what the game of golf does not need at this time.

Obviously, there was antitrust, there was DOJ antitrust concerns prior to this merger, but when you've got the commissioner of the PGA Tour now on leave, when you've got him saying, we've taken a competitor off the board and had them now join us, that, of course, raises everyone's concern.

And so no surprise at all, frankly, to me, that DOJ is investigating. It will take a while, and it continues to hurt the game of golf, men's golf, that P.R. side of it, where people look at and say, why am I watching this? It just seems to be all about greed. It seems to be all about controversy and it's really a tough time for the game of men's golf.

As I said, though, and as we've said over the last few weeks, it is all self-induced. This is all about these guys wanting more and more and more, and we will see, of course, how it plays out.

HILL: So, self-induced, is sort of what's to be expected? Is there a world, is there a universe in which this actually gives the PGA some cover that the DOJ is digging around?

BRENNAN: Certainly in the sense of if they say at the end of the day, Poppy, they say, oh, it's okay and everything's fine, then, yes, it would.

And the PGA Tour, to be fair to them, was in a real jam because they're going up against MBS, Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Investment Fund, and billions and billions of dollars, and the PGA Tour just didn't have that. But the Saudis have bought their way into an American sport.

And, of course, we know with the Saudis, we have to say this comes terrible baggage. They deny a lot of this, but, of course, 15 of the 19 hijackers in 911 were Saudi. Of course, the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi and the fact of just the human rights abuses, the LGBTQ abuses, a sport like golf that is trying to attract women and trying to attract new people, not just old grandpa and grandma, well, guess what? That sport is now in business with someone who repels or a group of people that could certainly repel your future fan base and your future growth industry. And that is a huge problem for golf moving forward.

HARLOW: For sure, right? The issue of sportswashing also has come up by some really prominent senators. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, two Democrats sent a letter earlier this week to the Justice Department calling for their antitrust division to take a look. We don't know. I mean, it sounds like this was launched before they sent that letter, but they sent it, and in part, it said the deal, quote, enables the Saudi government's efforts to sportswash its egregious human rights record that you just went through. But that, interestingly, is not what DOJ would probe.

BRENNAN: No, DOJ would be looking at the antitrust implications. But in this case, there is also that public relations side. And we know, you know, Poppy and Erica, for covering politics so long, you've got Senator Wyden, who has been on this for a year. I interviewed him a year ago about this. He has been concerned and very has been critical of LIV Golf. You've got Senator Blumenthal, Senator Warren, I imagine others would come in as well. It is something that they want to look at. As you mentioned, of course, that the issue of human rights abuses.

And as Senator Wyden said last week, you're allowing the Saudis to potentially take over American real estate. Now, they're not buying the golf courses but they will have business going on on American property. So that is part of it, too. But, yes, they are separate things. And what it means for the golf fan or the casual fan, sports fan, someone who just is kind of looking at this thing, what's going on, is that it will be nothing but chaos and confusion for the next year at least. And that is exactly what any sport does not want right now, certainly the game of golf, especially as Tiger Woods is near the end of his career. So, those T.V. ratings that Tiger had, which were stratospheric, those days are long gone for golf, another problem for the game of men's golf.

HILL: Christine Brennan, I always appreciate your insight. Great to see you this morning. Thank you.

BRENNAN: Great to see you both. Thank you.

HILL: Russian cybercriminals have reportedly targeted several U.S. government agencies.

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What we know about that hack and how Washington plans to respond, that's just a head.

HARLOW: Also, I hope my son is up watching, there's a new dinosaur. A new dinosaur species has just been discovered off the coast of England. What researchers are saying this morning. Name that tune. This is Jurassic Park, right? Come on. Is it?

HILL: Yes.

HARLOW: Yes.

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HARLOW: A federal grand jury has formally indicted the man accused of leaking all of those classified Pentagon documents. The Justice Department says 21 year old Airman Jack Teixeira is facing six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. The Massachusetts native has not entered a formal plea yet and remains in federal custody. He was arrested in April under the Espionage Act.

He allegedly took secret files from Otis Air National Guard Base and posted them on Discord, that social media site. Erica?

HILL: Well, U.S. officials are now saying Russian-speaking hackers are likely the conspirators behind a global cyberattack that hit several U.S. government agencies. Beyond that, officials are saying, quote, several hundred companies and organizations in the U.S. could also be affected by the hacking spree.

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Joining us now, Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, who also of course, sits on Foreign Affairs, is Armed Service.